RECORD EDITORIAL: Think these races are over? Maybe, think again

Thursday

Nov 8, 2018 at 9:24 PMNov 8, 2018 at 9:24 PM

We had several calls Thursday asking if the Senate race was over. Rick Scott is claiming the prize, while his henchpersons are heaping blame on Sen. Bill Nelson for not giving up. In typical style, Scott’s campaign team released this statement: “It is sad and embarrassing that Bill Nelson would resort to these low tactics after the voters have clearly spoken.”

First, Nelson would be daft to toss in the towel — more to follow. And second, there may be several thousand reasons the Scott camp may be pushing for Nelson’s early campaign mea culpa.

Under Florida law, if the election numbers result in a half-percent difference or less, the Secretary of State calls a recount. There seems to be some folks playing loose with the facts, but the law reads “shall” call it, not “may” call it.

What’s important to understand is that the numbers tallied after Tuesday night show only an unofficial count. That’s not because the tally could be wrong — it definitely is.

Thursday, our Supervisor of Elections office was a swarm of activity. There were reportedly several lawyers from both parties demanding new election data, while Elections Supervisor Vicky Oakes explained what is and what is not public record at this stage of the game.

The election is not over.

The staff is counting provisional ballots, which were not counted earlier. The state website lists 10 reasons a provisional ballot may be issued, but all have to do with some inconsistency between the ballot and the voter information. Some will likely be tossed out, and some go into the pile of viable ballots. There are 66 other supervisors of election doing the same thing this week. They all have until noon Saturday to count these votes and send their “certified” unofficial tallies to Tallahassee. And, yes, Oakes admits that sounds like what it actually is — a certification that the results are unofficial. But for recount purposes, they will be — so let that go for the moment. It gets a little more convoluted.

A canvassing board will also need to certify the voting machines, and if any deficiencies are found they’re reported to the state. But if everything’s OK there, this unofficial recount will not decide who wins or loses the election, per se. Its purpose is to certify that the half-percent plateau is reached in order to call a recount — or not. Further, should the vote spread drop below a quarter-percent, every county then must complete a “manual” recount of all votes. Nightmare to follow …

To further muddy the waters, overseas voters are allowed an extra 10 days in which to get their ballots in and certified. That’s Nov. 16. So, basically, any of the overseas ballots not in and tallied by the state deadline of Saturday, will not count — at least in terms of the decision to proceed with a runoff.

With us?

But the real elephant (pardon the pun) in the recount room will not come from these provisional ballots alone. Some of the large counties, particularly in South Florida, had yet to tally all their mail-in ballots by Thursday afternoon, Oakes said. We don’t know how many votes that may include, but it’s likely substantial. And, if conventional wisdom holds true, we might expect a significantly higher percentage of Democrat ballots coming in from South Florida precincts — which nudges the recount pendulum to the left.

And, as of press time, there is an increasing possibility the official/unofficial numbers could potentially trigger a recount in the governor’s race as well. The winning percentage by DeSantis was .52 — or .02 percent away from a potential recount plateau. Gillum conceded, but would have to turn down a potential recount if the numbers work out. That won’t happen. The Commissioner of Agriculture race is headed that way as well, along with a few local races across the state.

So, no, the calorically-challenged lady may have not yet sung.

And Florida seems an odds-on favorite to retain its heavyweight crown as the craziest swing state ever to have hung a chad.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Stay Connected

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The St. Augustine Record ~ One News Place, St. Augustine, FL 32086 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service